Apparatus and method for providing moisture-containing material to be dried

Abstract

An apparatus for providing a material to be dried comprising moisture. The apparatus includes at least a material providing unit (102), a plurality of nozzles (104), and a drying surface (106), wherein the drying surface is configured to be movable relative to the plurality of nozzles. The material providing unit is configured to direct moisture-containing material through the plurality of nozzles to the drying surface to obtain a plurality of elongate linear material deposits (108). The apparatus further comprises: at least one imaging device (110) configured to obtain imaging data of at least one of the deposits of elongated linear material; and at least one control unit (112) configured to determine at least one property of at least one of the deposits of elongate linear material, where the control unit is additionally configured to facilitate execution of at least one action based on the determined property.

Description

[0001] Technical Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates generally to drying processes and apparatus, and more particularly to providing a material to be dried containing moisture, wherein imaging data is utilized to determine at least one property of the moisture-containing material. Background Art

[0003] Many processes and equipment involved in the production of materials where the material is dried to produce a final product are susceptible to different types of faults or defects in the equipment or in the way the process is carried out, which can lead to different problems in the process and / or in the quality of the dried material produced.

[0004] As new processes for material production are developed, it's also important to devise methods for managing fault conditions associated with the machinery involved. In a related regard, understanding the quality of the produced material is advantageous. Produced material can be manually inspected by humans, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and involves high costs. Detecting faults or process-related defects at an early stage in the process also helps avoid, or at least reduce, the production of substandard material.

[0005] Methods for the production of materials are known which involve directing a material containing water through a plurality of nozzles to obtain a plurality of elongated, thread-like deposits of material which are subsequently dried. More particularly, such methods can be utilized in the production of filaments which can be further used, for example, to produce textiles.

[0006] If a failure is detected in a part of the machinery involved, the material production process can be halted until the machinery is repaired to avoid the production of low-quality material. However, this halt in the production process is time-consuming and can result in lost revenue. If the quality of the produced material is observed to be below expectations and a defect in the process or a failure in the machinery is identified, it can be difficult to determine where in the process or machinery the failure occurred. Finding the faulty part of the equipment can be time-consuming, and during this time, the manufacturing process may remain stalled, which is undesirable. Summary of the Invention

[0007] An object of the present invention is to alleviate at least some of the problems in the prior art. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for providing a material to be dried containing moisture, the apparatus comprising at least:

[0008] Material provision unit;

[0009] multiple nozzles; and

[0010] a drying surface, wherein the drying surface is configured to be movable relative to the plurality of nozzles;

[0011] wherein the material supply unit is configured to receive or supply a material containing water, and guide the material containing water through a plurality of nozzles to a drying surface to obtain a plurality of elongated linear material deposits;

[0012] The device further comprises:

[0013] at least one imaging device configured to obtain imaging data of at least one of the deposits of elongated linear material; and

[0014] At least one control unit is configured to determine at least one property of at least one of the elongated linear material deposits based on the imaging data, wherein the control unit is further configured to facilitate performance of at least one action based on the determined property.

[0015] By means of the present invention, a material containing moisture can be dried or provided for drying, wherein at least one property associated with the material containing moisture can be determined in an automated manner substantially without manual input and in real time while the process is running by obtaining imaging data about a plurality of provided elongated, linear deposits of material.

[0016] Manual inspection of material provided for drying or dried material may be reduced or avoided, which may reduce manpower requirements and may allow properties to be determined faster and / or more efficiently than with a human operator.

[0017] At least one property can be determined, evaluated or monitored substantially continuously (also meaning occurring at predetermined time intervals) by obtaining multiple images (or imaging data can be obtained substantially continuously or at predetermined time intervals), so that one or more actions can also be performed efficiently in real time while the process is running.

[0018] The imaging data and / or the determined property can be associated with a specific time or time interval. For example, the imaging data can be associated with a timestamp. Thus, for example, by associating the time, time interval, or timestamp with the sub-process, a change in a determined property can be associated with a specific sub-process within the drying process. Subsequently, it can be determined which sub-process caused the change in the property.

[0019] With the present invention, determining properties based on imaging data can provide a way to obtain information about multiple properties or characteristics related to the drying process, equipment, and / or material to be dried using only one detection method. Obtaining such information using methods other than imaging devices can be much more complex and, for example, require numerous sensors.

[0020] By obtaining imaging data, it is possible to efficiently determine to which individual elongated thread-like material deposit and / or which portion of an elongated thread-like material deposit (as further discussed below, associated with a particular group of nozzles) the determined property is associated. Thus, the characteristics of individual (for example) bundles of material (such as filaments) produced can be determined, and / or the characteristics of a particular portion of a filament (for example, filaments produced by a particular group of nozzles) can be determined. The determined characteristics can be associated with a dried final product obtained by drying a material containing moisture. Additionally or alternatively, characteristics or conditions associated with an individual nozzle and / or a particular group of nozzles and / or a particular nozzle within a group of nozzles producing a particular elongated thread-like material deposit can be determined.

[0021] The imaging device and the acquired imaging data can also simultaneously determine a variety of different properties. These properties can indicate the quality of the material to be produced by drying the moisture-containing material and / or can indicate the quality or operating parameters of a process for providing a (dried) production material or a moisture-containing material to be dried.

[0022] The control unit may be configured to facilitate actions related to adjustments to at least one of providing the moisture-containing material or directing the moisture-containing material through the plurality of nozzles to the drying surface, optionally to modify the determined property in a selected manner.

[0023] At least one selected action may be performed based on at least one determined property, wherein the action may be an adjustment related to a process of drying a material comprising moisture or providing a material to be dried comprising moisture, wherein it may be possible to not pause the entire process to determine which adjustments need to be made and / or to make the adjustments.

[0024] In one embodiment, the apparatus may further comprise a mixing unit configured to receive at least one raw material component, optionally cellulose fibrils, and at least one solvent, optionally water, wherein the control unit may be configured to adjust mixing parameters, such as mixing speed, based on the determined properties.

[0025] Embodiments of the apparatus may include at least one drying unit configured to provide drying energy, such as heat, to dry a material containing moisture.

[0026] In one embodiment, the control unit may be configured to determine at least one property indicative of at least one dimension of at least one of the elongated, thread-like material deposits. By obtaining information regarding the dimensions of the elongated, thread-like material deposits, the uniformity of the material to be produced may be determined. The uniformity may be correlated to the quality of the material to be produced. If no material is being supplied through a particular nozzle, the at least one dimension may be zero.

[0027] The property indicating the size of at least one of the accumulations of linear material may indicate that a particular accumulation of linear material should be present on the surface when the nozzle is positioned at the corresponding position in the apparatus, but is not present on the surface. Thus, the dimension here may be a width, which is determined to be zero or close to zero. This property may be obtained, for example, by determining the number of accumulations of elongated linear material present on the surface at a particular position. This number may be compared to the number of accumulations of elongated linear material that should be present on the surface at that position when all nozzles are operating normally. The property of an elongated linear material accumulation associated with a clogged nozzle may be the absence of this elongated linear material accumulation.

[0028] One or more properties may be determined based on imaging data regarding an individual elongated linear material deposit and / or based on imaging data regarding a group or portion of an elongated linear material deposit (e.g., imaging data associated with a group of nozzles), as will be discussed further herein.

[0029] The dimensional properties may also provide data regarding the continuity of the accumulation of linear material.

[0030] Based on one or more determined dimensions or one or more properties indicative of the size and / or uniformity of one or more of the elongated, thread-like material deposits, it may be determined that the dimension or uniformity associated with the selected elongated, thread-like material deposit exceeds a predetermined maximum value or is below a predetermined minimum value, and / or that the property indicative of at least one dimension indicates that the at least one elongated, thread-like material deposit is absent. Thereafter, at least one performed action may include determining that the nozzle associated with the selected elongated, thread-like material deposit is at least partially clogged.

[0031] Upon determining that at least one nozzle is at least partially clogged, the control unit may be configured to facilitate actions comprising adjusting a mass flow rate or a volume flow rate of the moisture-containing material provided to the plurality of nozzles via the material providing unit, preferably by reducing the mass flow rate or the volume flow rate of the moisture-containing material by a selected amount based on data indicative of the at least partially clogged nozzles to achieve or approximate a reduced exit velocity of the material from an unclogged nozzle.

[0032] In some embodiments of the present invention, the material supply unit may be configured to supply the moisture-containing material through at least one group of nozzles comprising a selected number of nozzles, wherein the moisture-containing material is supplied to the at least one group of the selected number of nozzles at a selected mass flow rate or volume flow rate, and wherein the control unit may be configured to:

[0033] obtaining or determining a reference exit velocity of the material containing moisture from one of the at least one group of nozzles comprising a selected number of nozzles;

[0034] determining a number of at least partially blocked nozzles in the at least one selected number of nozzles based on the imaging data; and

[0035] The mass flow rate or volume flow rate of the moisture-containing material provided to the at least one selected number of nozzles is adjusted to achieve or at least approach a reference exit velocity of the moisture-containing material from the remaining nozzles of the at least one selected number of nozzles.

[0036] Considering a group of nozzles including a selected number of nozzles, if one nozzle in the group is at least partially blocked, the linear material accumulation associated with the unblocked nozzles in the group may include dimensions greater than a threshold dimension and / or may exhibit a widening of dimensions. Here, the performed adjustments may result in a reduction of these dimensions, optionally to a reference value, such as a reference width.

[0037] The imaging device may comprise at least one optical instrument imaging device configured to obtain at least one image, optionally comprising at least one camera, such as a still camera, a line scan camera and / or a video camera.

[0038] Because the imaging data can be efficiently used to determine which linear material buildup is affected and / or which specific nozzle is at least partially clogged or otherwise malfunctioning, adjustments can be efficiently made to compensate for the malfunction so that the process can still continue, determined parameters can be adjusted in a selected manner, and / or maintenance procedures associated with the specific nozzle requiring maintenance can be efficiently facilitated.

[0039] In some embodiments, the control unit can be configured to determine multiple different properties substantially simultaneously. One property may, for example, be related to the size of the elongated, linear material deposit, while another determined property may be indicative of the quality of the produced material, such as a property related to a color parameter. Thus, for example, clogging of one or more nozzles can be detected and the quality of the produced material monitored substantially simultaneously. Acquiring and analyzing imaging data allows for the simultaneous determination of multiple different types of properties.

[0040] The control unit may be configured to determine at least one quality parameter associated with the at least one accumulation of elongated, thread-like material based on the at least one determined property, and the at least one action may then include assigning at least one quality level to at least a portion of the provided material to be dried containing moisture according to predetermined criteria. Based on the quality indicator, a selected portion of the produced material may be discarded or used for a different purpose, for example, than produced material having a different quality indicator level.

[0041] For example, the control unit may be configured to determine a property including a color parameter of the material containing moisture or a uniformity parameter of the material containing moisture. The color parameter may include a parameter related to color intensity, which may be determined from color imaging data or black and white or grayscale monochrome imaging data.

[0042] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a method for providing a material to be dried containing moisture, the method comprising:

[0043] providing a material containing moisture;

[0044] directing a material containing moisture through a plurality of nozzles to a drying surface, and moving the drying surface relative to the plurality of nozzles to obtain a plurality of elongated, linear deposits of the material;

[0045] obtaining imaging data associated with a plurality of elongated linear material accumulations;

[0046] determining at least one property of at least one of the elongated linear material deposits based on the imaging data; and

[0047] At least one action is performed based on the determined property.

[0048] The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific exemplary embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

[0049] As the skilled person understands, considerations presented with respect to the various embodiments of the apparatus may flexibly be applied mutatis mutandis to embodiments of the method, and vice versa. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0050] In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments according to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0051] Figure 1 showing a side view of at least a portion of an exemplary apparatus;

[0052] Figure 2 shows a top view of at least a portion of an exemplary device; and

[0053] Figure 3 A flow chart showing the methodology is presented. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] Figure 1At least a part of an apparatus for providing a material to be dried containing moisture is schematically shown. The apparatus comprises a material providing unit 102 configured to receive or provide the material containing moisture and guide the material containing moisture to a plurality of nozzles 104. Figure 1 A side view of the apparatus is depicted from a first viewing direction that is substantially in the same plane as the machine direction X. Figure 1 In the side view of the device of the example, only one nozzle 104 may be provided along the line of sight.

[0055] The nozzle 104 can be a material output configured to receive a material containing water and provide the material containing water through an orifice of a selected size. The size of the orifice and the dimensions of the nozzle 104 can depend on the raw material and / or the material to be produced by the process. For example, the nozzle can be a syringe-type nozzle with an orifice having an inner diameter in the micrometer range.

[0056] The apparatus further comprises at least one imaging device 110 or imaging means for obtaining imaging data and at least one control unit 112 that obtains the imaging data and is configured to facilitate the performance of at least one action.

[0057] The apparatus may also include or be connected to one or more drying units 114 configured to provide drying energy, such as heat, for drying the moisture-containing material. Drying may refer to removing at least a portion of, or substantially all of, the moisture from the moisture-containing material. The drying unit 114 may be a heated airflow providing device, or the drying unit may be additionally or alternatively located, for example, below the drying surface 106 to directly heat the drying surface.

[0058] The apparatus may further include one or more mixing units 116. The mixing unit 116 may be configured to receive and mix at least one raw material component and at least one solvent to provide a material containing water. The mixing unit may be provided as a separate entity configured to direct the material containing water to one or more material providing units 102, or the mixing unit 116 and the material providing unit 102 may be provided as a single entity.

[0059] The mixing unit 116 can be associated with one or more mixing parameters. For example, the mixing parameter can be associated with a mixing speed or a composition of the material containing water. The composition of the material containing water can refer to the components used in the material and / or the order and / or amount of each component used. The composition parameter can be associated with the viscosity of the material containing water (e.g., by being associated with an amount of a rheology modifier that can be received by the mixing unit and mixed with the at least one raw material and the solvent).

[0060] At least one raw material component may be provided in pulp form and may comprise, for example, at least cellulose fibrils, such as microfibrillated cellulose.Additionally or alternatively, the raw material component may, for example, comprise at least one proteinaceous fibrous raw material.

[0061] The invention is particularly advantageous in the context of processes for drying materials comprising at least cellulose fibrils, wherein a deposit of elongated, thread-like material is dried to form filaments which can be further processed to form, for example, yarn. The invention can, of course, be used for all types of materials to be dried which are provided as deposits of elongated, thread-like material and in which the properties of the material and / or the characteristics of the associated nozzles are to be determined or monitored.

[0062] The material supply unit 102 may be configured to control at least one parameter related to how the water-containing material is supplied to the plurality of nozzles 104. The at least one parameter may include a mass flow rate of the supplied water-containing material. The mass flow rate may be a mass flow rate supplied to a selected group of nozzles. The mass flow rates may be the same or different for different groups of nozzles.

[0063] The plurality of nozzles 104 are configured to receive a material containing moisture and provide the material containing moisture through the nozzles to a selected location on the drying surface 106. The drying surface 106 (or at least a portion thereof) is configured to be movable relative to the plurality of nozzles 104. Figure 1 In the apparatus of claim 1, the drying surface 106 (or at least one selected location on the drying surface 196) is configured to be movable along the machine direction X such that a plurality of elongated, linear deposits 108 of material are formed when the material containing moisture is provided to the drying surface 106 through the nozzles 104. Thus, each elongated, linear deposit 108 of material originates from a particular nozzle 104 and can be associated therewith.

[0064] The drying surface 106 may comprise a belt, such as a conveyor-type element. Alternatively, for example, the drying surface may comprise at least one rotating drum or cylinder.

[0065] The at least one imaging device 110 of the apparatus is configured to obtain imaging data of at least one of the elongated linear material deposits 108. Preferably, imaging data is obtained for a plurality of elongated linear material deposits 108 or all elongated linear material deposits 108.

[0066] Imaging device 110 can be any type of imaging device. For example, it can be a device that utilizes X-ray and / or magnetic resonance imaging techniques, but optical imaging devices can provide an economical and / or convenient way to obtain imaging data. For example, imaging device 110 can be or include a camera, such as a digital still camera, a (digital) video camera, or a line scan camera.

[0067] The type of imaging device 110 selected may be based on the type of imaging data desired and / or the type of property to be determined based on the imaging data. The imaging data may be obtained by the imaging device using selected wavelengths of light (e.g., which may be in the visible and / or infrared spectrum).

[0068] The apparatus may comprise only one imaging device 110, or the apparatus may comprise multiple imaging devices 110. The imaging devices 110 may be of the same type, or they may be of different types, e.g. where different types of properties are determined via different types of acquired imaging data.

[0069] Multiple imaging devices 110 may also be used to jointly obtain more imaging data or imaging data with more information. For example, using multiple imaging devices 110 in each selected area may obtain higher resolution imaging data.

[0070] Multiple imaging devices 110 may be positioned at selected imaging locations, such as along the machine axis X. Subsequently, one or more properties may be determined at different time intervals with respect to the same elongated linear material deposit 108. For example, a property may be monitored while a material containing moisture is being dried as it traverses along the X axis.

[0071] A preferred selected imaging position of the at least one imaging device 110 may be close to the nozzle 104 , such as, for example, within 1 m from the nozzle 104 in the X direction, so that the material output from the nozzle 104 can be effectively monitored.

[0072] Another selected imaging position of the at least one imaging device 110 may be near an endpoint of the drying surface 106, which refers to a point at which drying material should be removed from the drying surface 106. It should be noted that the position of the drying surface mentioned may refer to a position at a selected moment in time. Thus, the "endpoint of the drying surface" may refer to a position of the drying surface 106 (or generally, a region along the drying surface perpendicular to the X-direction) that is positioned at a given time at a location where material should be removed from the drying surface.

[0073] The control unit 112 may include at least one storage unit and one or more processing units for data processing. The control unit 112 may be a separate computing unit connected to at least one of the other components of the device via a wired or wireless connection, or the control unit may be integrated with one or more of the other device components.

[0074] The control unit 112 is configured to obtain imaging data and, based on the imaging data, determine at least one property of at least one of the elongated linear material deposits 108. The property may be determined and associated with one or more elongated linear material deposits 108 individually, and / or the property may be determined with respect to a plurality of elongated linear material deposits 108 as a combination or group.

[0075] Various different types of properties can be determined. Just one property can be determined, or multiple properties can be determined simultaneously. These properties can be derived directly from the imaging data, and / or the properties derived directly from the imaging data can be used to determine (further) properties or characteristics of the material including solvent content, drying material, and / or related to equipment components or process parameters.

[0076] For example, based on the imaging data (e.g., based on brightness fluctuations in the imaging data), the determined property may relate to the uniformity of the at least one elongated, linear material accumulation 108. The uniformity may indicate the presence of bubbles in the elongated, linear material accumulation 108. For example, the characteristic or further property determined based on the uniformity may be a quality parameter associated with the elongated, linear material accumulation 108. For example, if the presence and / or amount of bubbles is determined to exceed a threshold level, the quality parameter may indicate that the final (dried) product produced is of poor quality.

[0077] For example, the determined property may be a size parameter, a uniformity parameter, and / or a color parameter associated with the at least one elongated linear material deposit 108 .

[0078] The determined property may indicate at least one dimension of at least one of the elongated thread-like material deposits 108. Here, the property may relate to the presence of a selected elongated thread-like material deposit 108 at a specific location (imaging location) of the drying surface 106 at a specific (imaging) time and / or a plurality of elongated thread-like material deposits 108 at a specific location on the drying surface 106 and / or the continuity of at least one of the elongated thread-like material deposits 108.

[0079] For example, the property indicative of at least one dimension of at least one of elongated linear material deposits 108 may be directly the width of at least one of elongated linear material deposits 108 that is determinable based on the imaging data.

[0080] If the associated nozzle is at least partially clogged, the width of the elongated linear material deposit 108 may be below a threshold value. If at least one nozzle in an associated group of nozzles is at least partially clogged, causing at least a portion of the nozzles in the group to output material containing moisture at an undesirably high rate, the width of the elongated linear material deposit 108 may be above a threshold value.

[0081] A property that may be considered may indicate the distance between the elongated strands of material deposits 108. This property may be utilized to determine that the nozzle 104 is not delivering the moisture-containing material to a desired location.

[0082] The property indicative of at least one dimension of at least one of the elongated thread-like material deposits 108 may additionally or alternatively include, for example, data related to the number of elongated thread-like material deposits 108 present at the drying surface 106 (e.g., at the imaging location (where imaging data was obtained), along a cross-sectional axis substantially perpendicular to the machine axis X), preferably including information regarding the location of the elongated thread-like material deposit 108 on the surface, thereby enabling the determination of which specific nozzle 104 produced the elongated thread-like material deposit 108. Thus, if the nozzles 104 were operating as intended, it is possible to determine which specific nozzle 104 the absent elongated thread-like material deposit 108 is associated with, i.e., which location on the drying surface corresponds to where the elongated thread-like material deposit 108 should be present. The characteristic or condition associated with one or more nozzles 104 that can be determined can then indicate whether the nozzle 140 is clogged or unclogged (or to what extent). For example, a line scan camera is sufficient to determine such data. Therefore, a high-resolution, high-quality camera is not required.

[0083] The property indicative of at least one dimension of at least one of the elongated linear material deposits 108 may additionally or alternatively include data related to the number of elongated linear material deposits 108 present at the drying surface 106, which may be used to determine that the at least one elongated linear material deposit 108 is present at a location where it should not be present. This may occur when the imaging device 110 is utilized at or near an end point of the drying surface 106.

[0084] Based on the determined at least one property, the control unit 112 is further configured to facilitate the execution of at least one action. The action may be related to the allocation of one or more quality parameters and / or the adjustment of the provision of the moisture-containing material, for example, related to the adjustment of the operation of the material provision unit 102 and / or the mixing unit 116.

[0085] In one embodiment, the adjustment may be related to a rate difference between the supply of the moisture-containing material and the rate of moving the drying surface 106. The adjustment may be an adjustment of the rate of movement of the drying surface 106.

[0086] The adjustment can be related to a mixing parameter, such as a color parameter or a uniformity parameter, which is determined based on at least one of the determined properties. In this case, the color or uniformity can be adjusted as needed. For example, the mixing speed can be increased to obtain a more uniform material.

[0087] If the determined properties indicate, for example, that two elongated strands of material are too close to each other, the action may be to adjust the position of one or more of the equipment components, such as the nozzle head. The adjustment may also be to adjust the distance between one or more nozzles 104 and the drying surface 106.

[0088] Figure 2 A top view of at least a portion of an exemplary apparatus is shown. Here, a material supply unit 102 delivers a material containing moisture to a plurality of sets 202 of nozzles 104 . Figure 2 , individual nozzles 104 are not depicted, but the figure depicts an exemplary apparatus with three groups 202 of nozzles 104, where each group 202 includes five nozzles 104. The number of nozzle groups and the number of nozzles in each group are merely exemplary. The number of nozzle groups 202 can be, for example, two to dozens of groups 202, and the number of nozzles 104 in each group 202 can be a few nozzles 104 to thousands of nozzles 104, such as 100 to 1000 nozzles 104 per group 202.

[0089] Each nozzle 104 , at least when operating properly as intended, may be configured to output a material comprising moisture to provide an elongated, thread-like deposit 108 of material on the drying surface 106 .

[0090] Figure 2 One imaging device 110 is shown, configured to preferably obtain imaging data associated with all provided linear material deposits 108 (at least when the apparatus is operating as intended). As previously mentioned, any other number of imaging devices 110 may also be utilized at any selected imaging location. Figure 2 An end point or end region / location 204 of the drying surface 106 is also depicted.

[0091] Figure 2 The exemplary apparatus includes two drying units 114 positioned above the drying surface 106, although a different number and / or type of drying units may be utilized.

[0092] The determined property may, for example, indicate that at least one group 202 of nozzles including a selected number of nozzles 104 outputs fewer elongated, linear material deposits 108 than the selected number of nozzles 104 included in the group 202. Subsequently, the number of nozzles 104 that are clogged may be determined.

[0093] It has been determined that each nozzle 104 in a group 202 of nozzles 104 comprising a selected number of nozzles should output material containing moisture at or near a reference or target outlet velocity when all nozzles 104 in the group 202 are unobstructed, and / or a selected mass flow rate of material containing moisture should be delivered to the group of nozzles via the material providing unit 102 under reference or starting conditions.

[0094] If the determined property indicates that at least one of the nozzles 104 in the set 202 of nozzles is at least partially clogged, this will result in the unblocked nozzles 104 in the set 202 of nozzles outputting the moisture-containing material at an outlet velocity exceeding a reference or target outlet velocity. The control unit 112 can be configured to determine an adjusted (reduced) mass flow rate of the moisture-containing material to be delivered to the set 202 of nozzles based on the number of blocked nozzles 104, such that the remaining unblocked nozzles 104 in the set 202 of nozzles output the moisture-containing material at an outlet velocity adjusted to or close to the reference or target outlet velocity.

[0095] Subsequently, the action may be: the control unit 112 causes the material supply unit 102 to change the mass flow rate of the moisture-containing material delivered to a specific group 202 of nozzles including one or more clogged nozzles 104 from the previously provided mass flow rate to the adjusted mass flow rate. After this adjustment, the remaining unblocked nozzles 104 in the group 202 of nozzles may output the moisture-containing material at or near a reference or target outlet velocity.

[0096] The actions may alternatively or additionally include providing information to a user of the device indicating which particular nozzles 104 are at least partially clogged so that appropriate maintenance procedures can be facilitated.

[0097] Figure 3 A flow chart of a method for providing a material to be dried containing moisture is shown. The method comprises providing 302 a material containing moisture. The material containing moisture can be provided, for example, by mixing at least one raw material component with at least one solvent.

[0098] The method further includes directing 304 the material containing moisture through the plurality of nozzles 104 to the drying surface 106 and moving the drying surface 106 relative to the plurality of nozzles 104 to obtain a plurality of elongated, linear material deposits 108 .

[0099] At 306 , the method includes obtaining imaging data associated with the plurality of elongated linear material deposits 108 .

[0100] The method then includes determining 308 at least one property of at least one of the elongated linear material deposits based on the imaging data. The at least one property may indicate a size of the at least one of the elongated linear material deposits 108 .

[0101] The method further comprises performing 310 at least one action based on the determined property.

[0102] The invention has been explained above with reference to the aforementioned embodiments and several advantages of the invention have been demonstrated. It is obvious that the invention is not limited to these embodiments but comprises all possible embodiments within the spirit and scope of the inventive idea and the following patent claims.

[0103] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the features recited in the dependent claims are mutually freely combinable.

Claims

1. An apparatus for providing a material to be dried containing moisture, the apparatus comprising at least: - Material providing unit (102); - a plurality of nozzles (104); as well as - a drying surface (106), wherein the drying surface is configured to be movable relative to the plurality of nozzles; wherein the material supply unit is configured to receive or supply a material containing moisture, and guide the material containing moisture through the plurality of nozzles to the drying surface to obtain a plurality of elongated linear material deposits (108); wherein the device further comprises: - at least one imaging device (110) configured to obtain imaging data of at least one of the elongated linear material deposits; as well as - at least one control unit (112) configured to determine at least one property of at least one of the elongated linear material deposits based on the imaging data, wherein the control unit is further configured to facilitate the performance of at least one action based on the determined property.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises a mixing unit (116), which is configured to receive at least one raw material component, optionally cellulose fibrils and at least one solvent, optionally water, wherein the control unit is configured to adjust mixing parameters, such as mixing speed, based on the determined properties.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one drying unit (114) configured to provide drying energy, such as heat, to dry the material containing moisture.

4. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the control unit is configured to facilitate an action associated with adjustment of at least one of: providing a material comprising moisture or directing the material comprising moisture through a plurality of nozzles to a drying surface, optionally to modify the determined property in a selected manner.

5. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the control unit is configured to determine at least one property indicative of at least one dimension of at least one of the elongated linear material deposits, optionally wherein the property is utilized to determine the number of elongated linear material deposits present on the surface.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein if the control unit determines that at least one dimension associated with at least one elongated linear material accumulation exceeds a predetermined maximum value or is below a predetermined minimum value, and / or if the property indicative of at least one dimension indicates that at least one elongated linear material accumulation is not present, the control unit is configured to determine that the nozzle associated with the elongated linear material accumulation is at least partially blocked.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein if it is determined that at least one nozzle is at least partially clogged, the control unit is configured to facilitate actions comprising: adjusting the mass flow rate or volume flow rate of the material containing moisture provided to the plurality of nozzles via the material providing unit, preferably by reducing the mass flow rate or volume flow rate of the material containing moisture by a selected amount based on data indicating the at least partially clogged nozzle to achieve or approach the reduced exit velocity of the material from an unblocked nozzle.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the material supply unit is configured to supply the material containing moisture through at least one group of nozzles comprising a selected number of nozzles, wherein the material containing moisture is supplied to the at least one group of the selected number of nozzles at a selected mass flow rate or volume flow rate, and wherein the control unit is configured to: - obtaining or determining a reference exit velocity of the material containing moisture from one nozzle of said at least one group of nozzles comprising a selected number of nozzles; - determining, based on the imaging data, a number of at least partially blocked nozzles in the at least one selected number of nozzles; and - adjusting the mass flow rate or volume flow rate of the moisture-containing material supplied to the at least one selected number of nozzles to reach or at least approach a reference exit velocity of the moisture-containing material from the remaining nozzles of the at least one selected number of nozzles.

9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the imaging device comprises at least one optical instrument imaging device configured to obtain at least one image, optionally at least one camera, such as a still camera, a line scan camera and / or a video camera.

10. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the imaging device is configured to obtain a plurality of images, and wherein the control unit is configured to monitor the at least one determined property substantially continuously.

11. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the control unit is configured to determine a plurality of different properties substantially simultaneously.

12. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the control unit is configured to determine at least one quality parameter associated with the at least one elongated linear material deposit based on the at least one determined property, and wherein the at least one action comprises assigning at least one quality grade to at least a portion of the provided material to be dried containing moisture according to predetermined criteria.

13. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the control unit is configured to determine a property comprising a colour parameter of the material comprising moisture or a homogeneity parameter of the material comprising moisture.

14. A method for providing a material to be dried containing moisture, the method comprising: - providing (302) a material containing moisture; - directing (304) the material containing moisture through a plurality of nozzles to a drying surface, and moving the drying surface relative to the plurality of nozzles to obtain a plurality of elongated, thread-like material deposits; - obtaining (306) imaging data associated with the plurality of elongated linear material deposits; - determining (308) at least one property of at least one of the elongated linear material deposits based on the imaging data; - performing (310) at least one action based on the determined property.

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